In the past few years, The Wall Street Journal launched six email challenges to help our readers get better at something in their lives, from fitness to money. Each free challenge starts when you sign up, and continues with one email a week to your inbox—full of exercises and how-tos—for four to six weeks.

For 2024, we’ve updated and refreshed these short courses for those looking for a project or challenge to kick off the year. While we don’t recommend doing all six challenges at once, we do recommend taking advantage of the fresh-start energy the new year brings and making plans for joy in January.